Survey: Apple Products Now in Half of American Homes

Apple products are now in a majority of American homes, according to a new survey published by CNBC. The CNBC All-American Economic Survey found that there’s an iPhone, iPod, or Mac in 55 million American homes, just more than half, and that 10 percent of those without are looking to acquire an Apple device within the next year. 25 percent of those already owning an Apple device also expect to add another one.

The survey found that not only do half of American homes have an Apple product, they are very likely to have more than one. The average is 1.6 per household, though that does depend on what part of the country you’re in.

The West averages two devices while the South has the fewest at 1.2 per household. The West also has the highest penetration of homes with 57% having Apple product. The other regions of the U.S. vary from 47-51%.

Source: CNBC

The typical Apple buyer tends to be male, college-educated, and younger. Home ownership doesn’t seem to be significant but being a parent is—48 percent of those households without kids have an Apple device, while 61 of house with kids say the same.

Household income seems to have the biggest impact on Apple device ownership, with just 28 percent of household with incomes less than US$30,000 per year owning at least one device. That jumps to 77 percent of households with incomes of $75,000 or greater. Higher income homes average three devices while the more modest households have 0.6 on average.

Age may not be as significant as some might think, with 18-34 year-olds and 35-49 year-olds having equal percentages (63 percent) of ownership. Older than that, the percentages drop a bit with 50 percent of 50-64 year-olds and only 26 percent of 65 and older folks having Apple devices.

The poll was conducted by CNBC and included 836 Americans who were reached by both landline and cell phones during March of 2012. The survey has a margin of error of 3.4 percent.

A positive correlation between Apple product ownership and education, as well as Apple product ownership and income, not to mention penetration by age, even if non-significant, with ownership dropping off for older age groups, has got to worry Apple’s competition.

These demographics do not support the tired shibboleth that only people who are not tech-savvy or who are unaware of the merits of competing products would purchase Apple products, particularly the Mac.

It is not merely the penetration into new and emerging markets, but the adoption by age, education and income, that augur for sustained market dominance (which is not the same thing as predominant market share) of Apple.